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Combat Story

Pat Tillman’s Last Battle and the Importance of Fighting Toxic Leadership w/ Former Unit Operator Pete Blaber

Combat Story

Ryan Fugit

History

4.81.3K Ratings

🗓️ 9 September 2023

⏱️ 169 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Join our weekly Combat Check-In Newsletter (www.combatstory.com/newsletter) to get a short email from Ryan for people who love and support our veterans, service members, and their families. It has info on a significant event in military and/or intel history, a funny military joke, an update on a current event I'm following, something I'm doing that week in my life, a book I'm reading, a look at an upcoming interview, a reflection on a past episode and more!

🎙️ Today's Combat Story: Unveiling the Truth Behind Pat Tillman's Tragic End in Afghanistan

🎙️ In this episode, we delve deep into the life and tragic end of Pat Tillman, the former NFL star turned Army Ranger, through the meticulous research and firsthand accounts of Pete Blaber, a former Delta Force Commander with extensive experience in Iraq, Afghanistan, and beyond.

🔍 Why Pete Blaber?

Pete served twice in the same Ranger Battalion as Pat Tillman, giving him unparalleled insights into the people, locations, and responsibilities involved in the battlefield.

📖 The Quest for Truth

Mary Tillman, Pat's mother, sought Pete's help to uncover the truth about her son's death. Despite multiple military investigations, the true story remained elusive until Pete's involvement.

📘 Common Sense Leadership Matters

Pete documents his findings and the toxic leadership climate in his book, "Common Sense Leadership Matters: Toxic Leadership Destroys, A Case Study." This book offers new perspectives on Pat Tillman's leadership, the state of special operations in 2004, and the daily life of a Ranger in combat.

#CommonSenseLeadership #CommonSenseSuperpower #LeadershipTransformation #UnleashYourPotential #leadershipawareness #LanguageOfCommonSense

📸 Visual Aids

Follow along with images of the terrain at firefight.commonsenseway.com.

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- Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle

Find Pete Blaber Online:
- Common Sense Leadership Matters: Toxic Leadership Destroys, A Case Study
https://www.amazon.com/Common-Sense-Leadership-Matters-Destroys/dp/B0C87BVQZY

- Follow along with the battlefield description at: https://firefight.commonsenseway.com/
The Common Sense Way: A New Way to Think About Leading and Organizing https://www.amazon.com/Common-Sense-Way-Organizing-Leadership-ebook/dp/B096N2KGJZ

- The Mission, The Men, and Me: Lessons from a Former Delta Force Commander https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XQEVWQ/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
Instagram @blaberpete https://www.instagram.com/blaberpete/

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Show Notes:
00:00 - Intro
00:44 - Guest Introduction (Peter Blaber)
02:51 - Interview begins
03:35 - Peter's background
08:55 - Being an Author and case studies
20:52 - Hello Fresh Ad
22:18 - 3rd book synopsis
29:48 - Patrick Tillman's mother Mary
36:42 - Command structure leading to firefight
41:18 - Toxic Management
45:17 - Structure of the Rangers and terrain of the Spera District
54:23 - Command at Selarino
01:02:16 - Battle readiness in Afghanistan
01:10:41 - Oversought preventitive measures
01:24:00 - The mission and the firefight
01:44:00 - Writing the firefight
01:46:50 - The firefight
02:03:04 - Kevin Tillman
02:09:54 - Patrick Tillman
02:29:57 - Mission Debreif
02:38:12 - Relationships after book publishing
02:41:48 - Toxic climates
002:45:56 - Closing thoughts
02:46:43 - Listener comments and shout outs

Go to www.HelloFresh.com/50combatstory and use code 50combatstory for 50% off plus free shipping to get delicious and healthy meals that you can make at home with your family in no time and add some variety to what you serve! Our family has used Hello Fresh for years!

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

And so his instinct was we got to help him.

0:03.0

You guys stay here, the rest of you follow me.

0:06.0

We're going to run up to the high ground.

0:08.0

So off they all run of this spur.

0:11.0

And this is in the opening minutes.

0:12.0

It took them about, we believe,

0:14.0

about four to five minutes to get up there.

0:16.0

Pat Tillman grabbed his guy,

0:19.0

who is, you know, the private at the time,

0:22.0

and said, hey, let's go help our boys out

0:24.0

and let's go kill some bad guys.

0:26.0

Welcome to Combat Story.

0:27.0

I'm Ryan Fugid, and I serve Warzone Tours as an Army attack helicopter pilot

0:31.0

and CIA officer over a 15-year career.

0:34.0

I'm fascinated by the experiences of the elite in combat.

0:37.0

On this show, I interview some of the best.

0:39.0

To understand what combat felt like on their front lines.

0:43.0

This is Combat Story.

0:45.0

Today we hear a unique combat story about the events that took the life of Pat Tillman,

0:50.0

the soldier, ranger, and former NFL star in Afghanistan in 2004.

0:55.0

Thanks to the painstaking research, writing, and interviews by a former guest

0:59.0

and former longtime unit commander and operator Pete Blavor,

...

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